Information about Software for Reports: Why Use InetSoft

"Would my company really benefit from reporting software?"

If your company has data (customer information, sales figures, inventory levels, etc.), then the short answer is yes, there are major benefits to having reporting software. Market driven companies use data to get a better understanding of the competition, their customers, and their own performance.

But raw data is not as useful to businesses on its own. In order for business users to understand, interpret, and make informed decisions, all that data needs to be transformed into a more user friendly format. Reporting software is a business tool that transforms raw data into meaningful information.

"That's fine, but how does reporting software work?"

A company's data is housed in databases and data warehouses. Databases are typically smaller and are designed to record data. Data warehouses can be more complex and are designed to respond to user queries. Queries are requests for data and can be simple, net sales for example, or much more sophisticated, such as the proportion of net sales attributable to running a promotion on a single product line.

Once set-up, reporting software connects to your multiple data sources, fetches data based on user submitted queries, and displays the information in easy to interpret charts, graphs, and visualizations. However, not all reporting software solutions are made equal. Individual database connectivity, data mining technology, and types of visualizations vary from product to product.

It is important to choose a reporting software solution that can connect to multiple data sources, has sophisticated data mashup and drill down functionality, and can render compelling and intuitive visualizations.

visual report

"What are some examples of reporting software in action?"

  • Turn raw sales data into user friendly Top 10 lists based on: product lines, sales people, departments, regions, sales periods, etc.

  • View year end data in terms of: last year's performance versus this year's, size of the current sales pipeline versus the same period last year, dollar-sizes of all opportunities in the sales pipeline by sales stage, number of new leads created by month, and more.

  • Get a detailed analysis of your supply chain by transforming operations datasets into meaningful reports displaying KPIs, like: average lead time to fill an order, number of open cases by status, overall case open versus close rate, and more.

"What makes InetSoft's solution so special?"

InetSoft makes reporting software that is easy to deploy and easy to use, and its unique data mashup capabilities enable unified views of organizational performance and maximum self-service.

InetSoft's small-footprint, Web-based application provides a streamlined, intuitive interface for all users. As an innovator in reporting software since 1996, InetSoft has pioneered the evolution from static reporting towards interactive visualization of data via dashboards.

"What are the top choices for open source reporting software?"

Top choices for open-source reporting software include Metabase, Apache Superset, and BIRT. Metabase is known for its ease of installation, clean user interface, and ability to let non-technical users build and share dashboards quickly with SQL or a visual query builder. Apache Superset is highly scalable, suitable for large teams, and offers advanced chart types, SQL Lab for ad-hoc analysis, and flexible visualization customization. BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools), backed by the Eclipse Foundation, is a mature platform for pixel-perfect reporting with strong embedded reporting capabilities in Java applications.

Other notable options are ReportServer, JasperReports, and Redash. ReportServer provides a central platform that combines different reporting engines, supporting ad-hoc analysis and scheduled distribution. JasperReports excels in generating complex, high-fidelity reports embedded within applications, with JasperSoft Studio allowing design flexibility. Redash, while no longer under active new development, is still widely used for SQL-based dashboarding and sharing data insights quickly. The best choice depends on whether you need embedded reporting, user-friendly dashboards, or heavy customization for operational reporting workflows.

"Has dashboard software replaced reporting software?"

Dashboard software has not fully replaced reporting software, but it has taken over many of the use cases that traditional reporting systems handled, especially for executive summaries, KPI tracking, and operational monitoring. Dashboards excel at providing real-time or near-real-time visual insights, helping users quickly spot trends and exceptions without digging through detailed static reports. Many organizations now prefer dashboards for day-to-day analysis because they allow users to filter, drill down, and interact with the data directly, making it easier to explore performance and take immediate action.

However, reporting software remains essential for formal, detailed, and regulatory reporting, where precise layouts, pagination, and data validation are required. Financial statements, compliance reports, and operational record exports often demand capabilities that dashboards do not prioritize, such as pixel-perfect formatting, batch generation, and structured delivery via email or print. In many modern data environments, dashboard software complements rather than replaces reporting software, with dashboards used for exploration and ongoing monitoring, and reporting tools reserved for structured, scheduled, and official documentation needs.

"What is the most important recent development in reporting software?"

The most important recent development in reporting software is the integration of cloud-native, real-time data pipelines into reporting workflows. Modern reporting tools now connect directly to cloud data warehouses like Snowflake, BigQuery, and Redshift, allowing organizations to generate reports on fresh data without manual extracts or delays. This shift enables near real-time reporting with automated refreshes, reducing reliance on stale CSV exports and batch ETL jobs while improving decision-making speed. The adoption of semantic layers and metrics layers further streamlines this process, enabling consistent metrics definitions across reports and dashboards while giving business users the flexibility to explore and build reports confidently.

Another significant advancement is the convergence of reporting and interactive analytics within a single platform, reducing the fragmentation between static operational reporting and exploratory analysis. Reporting software increasingly supports embedded analytics, allowing pixel-perfect reports to coexist with interactive visualizations, drill-through capabilities, and ad-hoc exploration in the same environment. This means users can view a monthly financial report and instantly drill down into transaction-level data or trend graphs without switching tools, increasing the value of reporting systems in self-service analytics environments while maintaining control over formatting and data governance.

More: Interactive Forms in a Report
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